Sunday, April 13, 2008

The Prophets' Call to Awaken (4/13/08)

The Prophets’ Call to
Awaken

John Shuck

April 13th,
2008

First Presbyterian
Church

Elizabethton,
Tennessee

During the month of April we are reading the Minor Prophets
or the Scroll of the Twelve.This is
part of our quest to cover the Bible in a year. I have been devoting Sunday mornings to
highlighting tidbits from the selections assigned for each month.For those who are keeping score there is a
difference between Major prophets and Minor prophets.The difference has to do with quantity, not
quality.Isaiah, Jeremiah and Ezekiel
are Major prophets.This is because
their works were so lengthy, that each text required its own scroll.

The twelve Minor prophets are each so short, that all twelve
fit on one scroll.

Here are a few insights that I have learned about these
texts that might be of interest to you.

The first insight has to do with their historical
setting.

Hosea, Amos, Micah in the 8th century.

Nahum, Habakkuk, and Zephaniah in the 7th
century.

And
Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi in the period of the exile or 6th
century.

Jonah, Joel, and Obadiah do not fit easily into those time
periods.Jonah is a legendary story
about a prophet.Joel is hard to figure
out altogether, and Obadiah is a rewrite of a text from Jeremiah.They are not easily dated.

The historical method of interpreting these books is to look
at each one, try to determine when and where it was written and to whom it was
addressed.In this sense, each writing
has its own context.This
historical-critical method has been revolutionary.It is especially helpful in keeping us from
employing these texts for the purposes of fortune telling.By fortune telling, I mean the use of these
texts to say that they predicted the future such as the arrival of Jesus.Some even use these texts to suggest the
authors were predicting events in our time or in some future.All of that is fantasy.

The historical-critical method helps us to understand these
texts as specific documents that addressed specific social, political, and
theological issues in their own time.

I don’t know why I torture myself in this way, but now and
then I flip through the channels and land on a religious station.I found the 700 Club the other night.The report was about people on the continent of
Africa emigrating to Europe, just getting on boats and heading across the
ocean, because the conditions are so horrible.It is a serious issue.We have
serious problems all over the world.

One of the television announcers was sympathetic and then said
something to the effect:“It says in the
book of Isaiah that these times would come.”I said to the person on the television as if that person could hear me,
“No, it doesn’t say that.”That book in
the Bible says whatever you think it says about our present as much as me
thinking you hear me while I talk at the TV.

The church and our nation could move ahead into a more
enlightened age if we ceased viewing the Bible as a vehicle by which some being
that we callGod sends out vibes through
secret code.While I am on my soapbox,
I will say that goes for all religious texts.The historical-critical method, a product of the Enlightenment, helps us
understand texts in our time period.

The second insight is that the texts in their final form were
edited and revised.Scholars, such as
Walter Brueggemann, use the word traditioned.These texts were edited and updated until placed in their final form in
the canon.For example, even though Amos
speaks to Israel, the northern kingdom in the 8th century, his text
was edited and adapted to speak to contemporary situations several centuries
later.

A third insight is a recent one that scholars are just
beginning to explore.As a result of
this traditioning process which includes the order of the texts, the twelve
disparate documents form a literary whole.Beginning with Hosea and ending with Malachi, there is a storyline.It
is a theological storyline.It goes
something like this:

Israel has a special relationship with YHWH.

Israel broke this relationship.

The prophets tell the truth about this.This truth-telling is called judgment.

There are consequences for this broken relationship.YHWH acts with punishment.

Finally, there is the promise of restoration.YHWH will act to restore humanity to
life-giving proper relationship.

As we read the minor prophets we can read them with this
storyline in mind.Judgment,
consequence, hope.

A fourth insight as that these texts as well as the Bible
itself, still command our interest.Here we are in the 21st century, hearing a preacher talk
about texts that are 2000 years old as if they are important.Communities of faith still look to these
texts to tell us something about who we are and what we might become.It is this fourth insight that makes the
other insights most important.

Because this book shapes our common life, worship, and
ethics, we should try to read it responsibly.This includes historical-critical understanding, its literary shape, and
its theological convictions.

Finally, the fifth insight is that we are free to use our
creativity, imagination, intelligence, and love to draw insights from these
texts for today.

One of the insights I have learned since moving to
Elizabethton comes from you.Rebecca
Nunley voiced this.The planet upon
which we live has a proper name, Earth, with a capital “E.”Earth is not an it.It is not the earth as if it were an object
separate from ourselves.We are part of
Earth and we have a relationship with Earth.That relationship involves human beings and the rest of Earth’s life,
Earth’s children.

This insight has been helpful to me in a number of
ways.I have had a struggle with the
character YHWH and with the term God.It
has been difficult for me to think of YHWH or God as a being out there.I have found that Earth can be a modern
metaphor for YHWH or God.People may
object vociferously that I am equating the creator with the creation and so
forth.I don’t think I am doing that but I am open to
critique.I just want to suggest that Earth is a
manifestation of God.Earth is a
personality of God.Earth is subject
not object.

This insight has helped me to engage these ancient texts in
a new way.I have begun to substitute
Earth for YHWH when I read these texts.Earth as divine personality speaks to me through these texts.If Earth had a voice what would she say?The Prophets of the Bible are articulating
Earth’s concerns to us in the language of their time and place.

No comments:

Post a Comment

Audio and text of my sermons are now on Southminster's web page. You can also get audio of sermons and podcasts of my radio programs at one place on my Soundcloud site. Podcasts of only my radio shows are on Podomatic. Thank you for listening and reading!